IM$avvy $avvy BlogCorner: #Investment Thoughts Four Years On #finance

– Interestingly, many people tend to talk about finding “The Next Google” or “The Next Facebook”, symbolic of the next great investment idea which could reap them tons of (seemingly effortless) money. Much attention is focused on finding great companies even before they become great, and funds tend to flow towards the next big idea (Artivision, it seems, as I type this). But the true essence of investing is not just about finding a great undervalued company with all the right characteristics for investment; it is also about learning to avoid the mediocre companies and the dud companies. Over these 4 years, it has become somewhat easier to identify the duds almost immediately, as I have developed automatic mental screens when I look at the financials of a company and study its business model. The greater danger, however, is in finding so-called “Value Traps”, companies whic...